The Mockingjay's Feather
by PanemsJennderp
Summary: They say history always repeats itself.. When President Paylor is killed and a bitter man takes her place as president and history begins to repeat itself. The games return. Katniss and Peeta's worst nightmares become a reality when Willow is sent into the horrifying arena. Will she be victorious like her parents or will death greet her?
1. Chapter 1

I walk home slowly after a long, tiring day at school. Rye, my younger brother, walks a few steps in front of me along with our little sister Prue. I don't really feel like talking to anyone today to I just tag behind them.

"Willow, wait up," I hear someone shout from behind me. I turn around and notice Finley Odair running up to me, he looks so much like his father, Finnick Odair. I have seen pictures of him, Finley has his eyes, his hair and my mom tells me that he has his fathers charm. I wonder what it is like to grow up without a father, my moms got killed in a mine explosion when she was only 11 and Finley's died before he was born. I couldn't bear the thought of loosing my dad

"What's up Will?" He asks.

"Nothing," I reply shaking my head.

"Come on Wills I have basically known you all my life, I think I can tell when something is up with you." I

I have known Finley all of my life, he is only 2 years older than me and he is one of my closest friends, our moms are extremely close as well. A few years after the rebellion Annie and Finley moved to Victors Village in district 12, well it isn't called 'Victors Village" anymore, it's just a fancy set of houses that anyone can buy but they are much pricier then normal houses. Im not entirely sure why they moved, I think it was because Annie wanted to be near people she knew and she and my mother had a great bond pulse she was still grieving over Finnick.

"Just stupid school," I say.

"Is that girl still causing you problems?"

"No, my teacher has chosen me to present a speech to the class about why I thought the rebellion was necessary. I know she chose me because of my parents but why couldn't she have chosen someone else, I hate speaking," I rant.

"I suppose it would be an absolute shame if you fell sick on the day," Finley suggests laughing. I smile and laugh a little,

"Haha very funny, that's the oldest trick in the book," I reply.

"Well not the oldest, I think the 'my dog ate my homework' is one of the oldest," Finley begins, "also no one has ever heard of a 'my cat ate my homework'."

"I think the only person you would get to believe that would be my mom, but she hates Buttercup already so it wouldn't be that hard for her," I laugh. Mom mom and Buttercup aren't the best of friends, she tried to drown him in a bucket once, I mean they weren't the best of friend before that but I think that was the cut off point for the alliance.

"Fin, do you have a girlfriend." Prue blurts out from in front. I have to bite my cheek to stop myself from laughing, unfortunately it doesn't work.

"No," fin begins, "but I met this girl and I think she is the one for me."

"Who is it?" I ask intrigued.

"Just some girl who goes to school, no one you know," he replies.

"Is she pretty?" Prue questions.

"Yeah, very pretty."

We stop outside my house,

"Well I guess I will see you tomorrow then, good luck with your speech," Finley says.

"Bye Fin." And I watch him run across the road to his house. I walk inside and go up to my room to get started on the speech, it's better to just get it over with then it won't bother me as much.

I am walking past my parents room to get to my room when I notice my mother sat on their bed staring at a picture, she is upset. I know this because she always does this.

"Mom are you okay?" I ask her as I walk into their room. She looks up at me, her eyes are puffy and red so I know she has been crying. I look down at who the picture she is holding is of, Aunty Prim.

I sigh, mom talks about her all of the time with such passion, I have seen millions of pictures of her and even though I didn't know her personally, I feel like I know her enough to miss her. I sit next to her on the bed,

"It's okay to miss her, I know this sounds kind of weird but sometimes I kind of miss her myself, even though I never knew her," I say to my mom. She looks at me and slightly smiles,

"I know, and she would have still been here if it wasn't for me."

I look at her, confused,

"What are you on about, it wasn't your fault."

"It was, when I decided I would become the Mockingjay I wrote down a list of agreements which consisted of rescuing your father Johanna and Annie, Gale and I being able to hunt, Prim being able to keep her cat and me being able to kill Snow," mom begins, "I was so caught up with your rescuing your dad and the rebellion I forgot to focus more on my mom and Prim, I mean we spent some time together but they were in the hospital most of the time and I was usually down in command or doing propos. I thought Prim was safe and I was blind to think they wouldn't lay a finger on her so I didn't make one of the agreements about keeping my mother and Prim, especially Prim safe, if I did then maybe Coin wouldn't have sent her to the Capitol."

I don't bother saying stuff like 'it wasn't your fault' because it won't change her outlook on it all so I just pull her into a hug and say,

"It will be okay."

Rye comes into the room to tell us that dinner is ready, so we all go downstairs to eat. People have told me that I have both my mothers and my fathers traits, I like to hunt with my mom, not that we need to because we are wealthy enough to buy our own meet but we all like fresh meet. I learnt how to use a bow and arrow when I was around four or five, after months of begging my mom to teach me she finally did. It didn't take me long to pick up the technique and everything and I can now gladly say I can shoot as good as my mom. Like my mom I also hate speaking, I'm not the best with words and I absolutely hate speaking in front of people. I love to paint and bake though,mid I'm not hunting with my mom I am either baking with my dad or painting. People have also told me that I am a spitting image of my mom apart from my eyes, I got them from my dad. Rye is fourteen, he has my dads hair and my moms eyes. Rye likes to hunt with us and he likes painting, he isn't much of a baker though but he is better with words than I am. Prue is 12 and her full name is Prudence, like Rye she has my dads blonde hair and my mothers grey eyes. My mother comments on how she is exactly like Prim, her pure innocence and how she wants to become a doctor in later life, like Prim wanted to. I mean Prue likes painting and baking but she loves caring for people. She wouldn't hurt a fly.

Our father dishes out dinner, which is pasta bake, my favourite. It smells delicious. At dinner we usually chat about our day, what we have done and everything. We always eat dinner together, my parents say it bonds us together as a family and I couldn't agree more. I am so happy and lucky to be a part of this family.

"How has everyone's day been at school?" dad pipes up, breaking the silence.

"It was okay but Mrs Parker was ill again so we had a substitute," Prue says. Our dad turns to Rye,

"What about you Rye?" he asks. Rye shrugs his shoulders,

"Eh, it was okay I guess, nothing much really happened other than Mr Wilson not showing up for most of the lesson."

"Willow, have you got anything interesting to tell us?" Mom asks.

"School was pretty boring, it always is. Anyway, my teacher is forcing me to do a speech about whether I thought the rebellion was necessary. I hate speaking in front of people and I hate him."

"You will do great Willow, don't worry," dad says.

Just then I hear a sound coming from the living room, we all do because everyone stops eating and stays silent. We all stare at each other, confused. What is going on? Rye gets up to go and check what it is. He comes back a few seconds later,

"It's the television," he begins, "it's been turned on and there is a message that reads 'mandatory viewing' across the screen." We all immediately get up and wonder into the living room. No one is saying a thing, I notice my parents exchange glances mixed with worry and confuse.

It's a few seconds before the screen changes to a man, he looks to be in his late forties but with all the plastic surgery the Capitol does he could be a lot older than he looks. His eyes look intimidating, he has a sharp nose. He just looks so bitter. He begins to speak,

"People of Panem, it is my duty to bring you some very sad news. Your president, President Paylor has been killed," we all gasp in shock, "We are currently investigating who the murderer is. I, Lazarus Bourdon, have been elected as the new president and I have made a few changes on how Panem is going to be ran," I look over at Rye and raise an eyebrow in confusion, "There are a few changes that I do not need to announce but there are two important ones, I and my advisors have all agreed that every district runs better when it has peacekeepers. They will keep you in place, make sure you attend work, school, do not cross the district fence and just help every district run more smoothly and follow the law laid out for them. The next change I, I mean we have decided to make has been a bit of a bigger topic, hours of debates and voting have taken place, we have weighed out the pros and cons and have come down to a final decision," I notice my mom take hold of my dads hand in fear, whatever it is I know it is not going to be good, "we have decided to bring back the Hunger Games. Exact same rules as before apart from both tributes from the same district can win, the reapings in each district will take part tomorrow at two in the town square in each district. Failure to attend the reaping is punishable by death."

The television switches off. Everyone is in complete shock. I notice my mom beginning to cry, my dad tries to calm her down. Rye goes over and hugs a crying Prue, and I am just stood here. I am so confused at the moment, so many things are running throughout my head, I don't know what to think. This can't be, it just can't. Then I run out of the house to the only spot I can think of, the meadow.

 **Well what do you guys think? I'm enjoying writing this and I have some great stuff planned for it *evil laughter* It would mean so much to me if you could possibly let me know what you think and what do you think is going to happen within the story.**

 **No im also going to do this "thing" I got the idea from ArthursCamelot, they have written an amazing Everlark fanfic series so I suggest you check it out! Now this "thing" is very simple and I just give you a quotation from the next chapter. Again this isn't my idea, all credit goes to ArthursCamelot!**

 **Sooo for the first quotation, let me see, let me see ...hmmmm...Finley!**

 **"I have been trying to find a way to tell you but I never knew how, then that speech was aired and I then knew I had to tell you."**

 **What could he possibly be on about?**

 **See you guys in the next chapter, or on Twitter if you follow me (which is NightlockTHG)!**


	2. Chapter 2

I run through the district, the streets are virtually empty apart from the peacekeepers parading around in their spotless white uniform, but they don't bother me. I don't know whether I should be bothered by them or not. In just under half an hour everything has changed dramatically and I am pretty sure Panem has gone back to how it was before the rebellion, or well it seems that way from what my parents have told me. It's horrible how they think they can bring the games back and expect everyone to be completely fine with it. I have obviously never been in the games myself but both of my parents have, twice, and I know the games change you, some nights I hear my mom screaming from nightmares from the games even though it has been over 18 years since she was in the arena. You don't just get the physical scars from the arena if you survive, you also get the mental ones. The ones that will haunt you for the rest of your life,the heavy guilt from killing innocent people. You aren't you when you leave the arena, that's if you do leave it alive.

When I get near to the meadow, I slow down and listen for the soft sound of humming electric. I can't hear any so I go ahead and carefully crawl through the hole in the fence. When district 12 was rebuilt no one ever thought of replacing the fence even though we were allowed to go into the meadow and the woods. The fence has never been live with any electricity, since now there are more powerful ways of supplying the district with power so I never really stopped to check but today I had to check, just in case it had been turned on to stop people from quickly getting away before the reaping tomorrow.

The meadow is simply beautiful, brightly coloured flowers have recently bloomed everywhere, flowers such as Primroses, Daisy's and Rue flowers. The birds are also singing, it almost feels like I have stepped into another world. I love the meadow, whenever I got upset about something I would always run here, and today makes no difference. I wonder what would happen if I just kept running, through the meadow then into the woods. Would the reaping come then? I shake my head at my own stupidity, you can't run from your problems you can only face them, plus my family need me.

I go and sit underneath the willow tree, the tree which I was named after. I close my eyes and try to clear my mind of all the stress but instead I begin to cry.

"Willow?" I hear someone shout, I look up and notice my mom running through the meadow towards me. She looks a mess, there is no other way to put it. Her eyes are the puffiest I have ever seen them, I could not imagine how much she has been crying, one of her greatest nightmares has become a reality. She sits down next to me and immediately pulls me into a hug.

"I'm so sorry Willow," she begins to cry. I don't have anything to say so I just sit there embraced in my mothers securing and safe arms and we just cry together. After about five minutes I break the silence,

"I don't know whether it is me overthinking or it is just a coincidence," I begin.

"What?" Mom asks softly.

"Have you realised that it has all happened just after Prue has turned twelve, I know it sounds stupid but the minimal age for the games is twelve, I don't know, it is possibly just me overthinking but it doesn't feel like it is a coincidence to me, it feels like it has been set out this way," I say, immediately giving myself a mental punch because of how ridiculous it sounds out loud.

"Possibly Willow, you have a good point," she replies, she begins to cry again. I have never seen my mom like this before, I mean I have seen her cry but not in this breaks my heart because all she ever wanted after the rebellion was to live as much as a peaceful life as possible with my dad. She didn't want kids at the start but once she was as certain as possible that the games were never going to come back she finally gave in and had Rye, Prue and I.

I think about what I just said to her, I guess it could have been set out like this, I mean just because Paylor became president doesn't mean that everyone in Panem immediately liked my mother and father. There would still be people who were angry with them and what would be a better way to get revenge than waiting until their kids were all eligible for the reaping and have the games return and then rig the reaping so we would get picked.

"Mom, do you think they will have the reaping rigged so we would go in?" I ask her.

"Possibly, there are still people in the Capitol that want to get back at your father and I," she replies, her voice is so broken, she has protected us our whole lives from broken bones, scraped knees and sickness bugs and now when she wants to protect us the most, she can't. I begin to cry again, the salty tears roll down my cheek and drop onto the bright green grass. My mom puts her arm around me again, I rest my head on her shoulder.

"There is something else on your mind Willow," she whispers, "tell me what it is."

"I love you mom," I say, which is true but I don't know how to put what's on my mind into words.

"I love you too."

We hear footsteps so we immediately stand up so we can hide if we have to in case it's a peacekeeper. But it isn't. I know those golden curls from anywhere, Finley. He runs down to us.

"I told Peeta I'd come to see if you were both okay," he begins, "he started getting worried and had thought you had been both taken by Peacekeepers."

"I'm going to go back to him now, how is your mother taking the news Finley" mom asks. Finley looks up at her, his eyes are full of so much hurt. He shakes his head.

"I will go and check on her," she says.

"Uh, Mrs Mellark, is it okay if I have a few minutes with Willow?"

"Yeah but don't be long," she replies and starts to walk towards the fence.

Finley and I both sit down under the tree. We used to play in the meadow a lot when we were younger. I remember just a few days after Prue had been born, we all came here, Mom, Dad, Annie, Finley, Rye, Prue and myself. Everyone. We all had a massive picnic and after when the adults were talking Finley, Rye and I went to go and play hide and seek. It may seem like and ordinary picnic but to me it is one of my favourite childhood memories. I miss being a kid, even if you were living in a fake fairytale life was still better.

"This isn't right," I say.

"I t isn't," Finley says in agreement.

"Look, Willow there is something you should know," Finley starts, I turn to him.

"What?" I ask

"The thing is Willow when you asked me who the girl was earlier, I lied to you, I told you it was someone you didn't know," my mind darts back to the conversation we had on the way home from school.

"Who is it then?" I ask, confused.

"You Willow." I look at him, I honestly find it hard to believe someone would like me like that but when I look into Finley's eyes I can't find a single reason why he would lie. I have known him my whole life and he has never lied about anything like this so why would he now? I look away, embarrassed, my cheeks flush up.

"I have been trying to find a way to tell you but I never knew how, then that speech was aired and I then knew I had to tell you."

I have had a few feelings for Finley but I just thought I was being stupid and I made myself believe he would never like anyone like me.

"Willow look at me," Finley says quietly. I turn my head to him. He puts four of his fingers under my chin, and with his thumb, he runs is across my lips. He then lifts my chin up and lightly kisses me. It feels magical and that is all I can say to describe it.

I notice the sun is beginning to set, the sky is beginning to turn a soft orange colour, my dads favourite colour. I would love to just sit here all night but my family need me as do I need them. We all need each other.

Without exchanging words Finley and I stand up and make our way over towards the fence where my mother is waiting, which I had no clue about, I thought she went back home.

It is a silent walk back, no one says anything. Partly because we don't know what to say. I begin to think about how my life will change tomorrow, it's plain obvious that either Prue, Rye or I will be going to the Capitol tomorrow. I have now way to stop Rye from going in if he is picked but I know one thing, Prue will definitely not be going.

 **Well well well... *evil laughter***

 **Within this fanfic I really want to try and focus on Willow's relationship with her family, more importantly her parents and how it progresses with the story.**

 **Thankyou guys for your reviews on the previous chapter, they all mean so much! Don't forget to share and review, every little helps.**

 **Now, for the quotation, hmmm...Peeta,**

 **"As parents, we always want to protect our children from the dangers of the world and all the things that will damage them."**

 **See you guys in the next chapter, or on Twitter if you follow me (which is NightlockTHG)!**


	3. Chapter 3

I toss and turn through the night trying to get to sleep, but it is no use. I can't stop thinking about what will happen tomorrow. In the end I just give up trying, I throw my legs out of bed and slip on my fluffy slippers and head downstairs. As everyone is asleep I try to be as quiet as possible but it is hard when half of the stairs creek louder than ever, which makes me cringe, I don't want to wake anyone up. When I get downstairs I notice dads art room is open, he usually closes the door when he is finished painting. I have seen his paintings plenty of times in the past and they are beyond amazing. Most of them are from when him and mom were in the games or when he was tortured in the Capitol, he said that it helps him to paint things he has nightmares about, but then there are others, like when he proposed to mom at Effie's birthday party, their wedding and ones of Rye, Prue and I when we were born. There are loads of Rye Prue and I, from when we were babies, toddlers, our first days of school, and even now. Some of my paintings are in here, my very first ones going up to my most recent ones. I get my painting talent from my dad, I love painting, sometimes my dad and I would have painting days, just like the hunting days I have with mom, dad and I would just sit in here and paint and talk about all kinds of random stuff. He teaches me new techniques all the time, I never knew that there were a thousand different ways to paint one picture.

I head over to my recent painting, it's of Prue. She is stood in the meadow, looking at a beautiful sunset with the Willow tree in the background. It has to be one of my favourites even though I'm not finished with it yet. I begin to add more, focusing on her beautiful golden hair. I am so concentrated in the painting that I don't even hear my dad walk into the room.

"Willow it's half past three, why are you awake at this time?" He asks quietly. Without looking up from my painting I reply, "I couldn't get to sleep."

"Willow look at me," I turn to him, "is it about-" he doesn't even need to finish his question for me to know what he is asking, it's about the reaping. I look down and nod my head slowly. He walks up to me and pulls me into a hug.

"Willow, it's going to be okay," he whispers. But we both know we won't, the odds are definitely not in our favour this year.

He suggests making us both some hot chocolate. I am not going to refuse that offer, no way. My dad makes the best hot chocolate in the world. I put down my paint brush and follow him into the kitchen. I watch him as he warms the milk up over the stove and then as he adds in the then pours the mixture into two mugs and finishes them off with whipped cream and marshmallows. My favourite.

"Thank you," I say as he places a mug in front of me. We sit there in silence for a few minutes whilst we drink the rich, warm, chocolate liquid.

"Dad," I begin, breaking the silence, "how is mom taking all of this in?"

He sighs, "you are old enough to understand Willow, she isn't coping very well. You see, after the war she wasn't fully fond of the idea of having kids. She was terrified of the games coming back, and she didn't want you to go through what we went through. We left it a year or so and when we were sure they wouldn't come back she agreed. But you see Willow, now the games have come back and we know that all three of our kids have a big chance of going into them, it's such a horrible and painful feeling. As parents, we always want to protect out children from the dangers of the world and all the things that will damage them, but knowing that we can't protect you three from the games feels like our hearts are being ripped out. You weren't brought into this world to be pieces in that game, you were brought into this world because we want you here, we love you, we want you to be a part of our family. The games change you, who you are. They take away your innocence. Once you kill someone, you are no longer the innocent one, you have taken someone's life away from them, their future. But Willow, you have got to remember who you were before you entered the arena, and know that they don't own you." I wrap my hands around my mug whilst I listen to my fathers wise words.

" Back to your question, you see, your mom deals with her emotions differently to how I deal with mine. I try and work mine into my art work, your mom just lets them build up inside her until she breaks down, I have to sit with her and get her to talk to me. It took me a while for me to get her to speak about Prim, and let her let her feelings out. I'm scared Willow, I am scared she will let these ones just keep on building up inside of her, like I said its such a horrible feeling knowing your kids have a high chance of going through one of the most horrifying things in the world. I'm scared she won't talk to me about it, and I am terrified of how it will break her, I am scared that she might block me out." I see a tear roll down his cheek, he is truly scared.

I don't know what to say, I'm not like my father, he is good with words and knowing what to say. I'm not, I'm scared I'll say the wrong thing so I just stay quiet most of the time.

After we finish our hot chocolates he tells me to go to bed, "tomorrow is going to be a long day and you need to rest," he tells me. I watch my father get up and wonder off into his art studio. It makes me wonder, has he had a nightmare? Him and mom still do get them and after the announcement of the games last night, I'm not surprised if they get a whole ton more. I usually know when my mom has has a nightmare as her screams usually wake me up, they usually wake my dad up because he is a light sleeper so he is always there to calm her down. I always go to check though, to make sure she is okay. She says she feels guilty for waking us up but we repeatedly have to assure her that it isn't her fault. It's hard to tell when my dad has a nightmare because he doesn't scream like mom does, he wakes up from them a lot quieter than mom does. And unless I'm awake when I hear him get up and go downstairs to his art studio to paint, I'm not aware that he has had a nightmare. If I am awake I will go downstairs and speak to him.

When I get to the top of the stairs I decide to check on mom. I quietly push their bedroom door open and notice that she is all tucked up in bed and is sleeping like a baby. I smile a little, at least she is getting some sleep. There again, I don't know whether the nightmares will pay her a visit. I also check on Rye and Prue and make sure they are tucked up and fast asleep. Rye is, Prue is asleep but her blankets are on the floor so I pick them up and gently put then over her so she doesn't get cold.

I plant a kiss on my little sisters forehead before I leave.

I manage to get some sleep, only a few hours however, a few hours are better than nothing right? It's wired because today just feels like any other normal Tuesday, usually we have school but it has been cancelled because of the reaping. I usually hate school, I'd do anything to get out of going but I'd rather be at school today than at the stupid reaping. Speaking of the reaping, I am surprised that the nerves haven't kicked in yet, they probably will when it gets closer to the reaping. A purring noise comes from the end of my bed, I sit up and look down, Buttercup is curled up into a ball and is purring away happily. I carefully pick him up, place him in my lap and begin to softly stroke him. Buttercup was Aunt Prim's cat, mom only kept him because she knew Prim would have wanted her too plus she feels like a part of Prim is with him when he is creeping around the house.

I hear noises coming from downstairs, I guess my family are up and are getting breakfast ready. I decide to go downstairs and join them. Dad is cooking breakfast and Rye and Prue are both in the sitting room but three is no sign of mom,

"Dad, where is mom?" I ask he turns around and tells me that she is upstairs. I go up to her. She isn't in her and dads room, nor mine and she isn't in Rye's room either, eventually I find her in Prue's room, looking through her wardrobe.

"Hey" I say quietly as I walk in.

"Hey" she replies as she pulls out a beautiful pale yellow dress, she turns to me and holds it up,

"Do you think this will be okay for Prue?" She asks. It's a beautiful dress, she got it for her birthday around a month ago. It has a pleated skirt that ends just above the knees and it has shiny, yellow ribbon around the waist. It is very simple yet it suits Prue perfectly. I nod my head, answering my moms question. I would hate to think what is whizzing around in her head at the moment, it must be so hard for her. She is trying so hard to be strong for all of us, mainly Prue and Rye. She carefully places Prue's dress onto her bed and then sits down.

"Your grandma is going to be here soon," she begins, "she will be looking after you three whilst your father and I are in the Capitol." When she said you three, she didn't seem confident at all. It is like she knows at least one of us will be going to the Capitol with them. I sit down on the bed next to her.

"Mom, you don't have to pretend to be strong for me," I tell her. She sighs,

"I know," she begins, "it's harder acting like it doesn't bother you when in fact it is tearing you apart inside."

"Then why do you do it then?" I ask.

"Because I have to, for Prue and Rye, especially Prue. I don't want them to see me fall apart and then get more worried about it. You are older and you understand more than they do."

I get up and go and look out of the window. Prue's window overlooks the village street and nine time out of ten there are always kids running up an down, laughing, shouting, playing with each other. But there isn't today, the street is as empty and as quiet as ever. It seems so strange, how yesterday before the announcement everyone was getting on with their lives, nothing could bring them down but then the announcement aired and everyone's lived turned upside down. There are thousands of parents out there in every district, praying that their child's name doesn't get drawn.

 ***sigh* Oh happy days...**

 **So I'm finally going to the Cinema tomorrow to see LaLa Land (I'm dragging my sister along with me lmao) I'm so excited!**

 **Quote, quote, quote, I must give you a quote...**

 **This quote is from Rye,** **"I am not going up there alone, it is dark and there are spiders and who knows what else"**

 **I hope you liked this chapter and are enjoying this story so far, please don't forget to leave a review and follow if you aren't already!**

 **If you want to keep up to date with me then my twitter is nightlockTHG and my Instagram is PanemsJennderp**


End file.
